Election boss against denying ballot "for any reason whatsoever" just before noncitizen voting disclosure
Oregon and federal law limit voting registration to U.S. citizens, but former Democratic party operative Molly Woon's Elections Division registered at least 1,500 noncitizens to vote.
In a video released weeks before Oregon acknowledged its motor voter system had illegally registered noncitizens, over 1,500 of them at latest count, the state’s Elections Director Molly Woon said, “To me, it is really unfortunate if someone is prevented from getting a ballot for any reason whatsoever.”
Oregon law requires a person be a resident of the state and a United States citizen in order to register to vote, i.e. get a ballot. It is a felony for a noncitizen to vote in state elections in Oregon. It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
Two years prior to assuming her role as chief steward of Oregon’s election system, Woon worked as deputy director for the Democratic Party of Oregon.
Oregon’s motor voter system, one of the most ambitious examples of automatic voter registration (AVR) in the country, is supposed to automatically registers to vote any qualified individual who interacts with the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. DMV collects information from its applicant. If the applicant presents proof of meeting the legal requirements to register to vote, DMV sends the applicant’s information to Woon’s department, where the applicant is registered to vote.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek announced the state would suspend its motor voter system while sorting out how many noncitizens it registered to vote. According to the most recent state totals, at least nine people who failed to present proof of citizenship but were registered to vote anyway actually voted in elections since 2019.
The video featuring Woon was released by the Skoll Foundation, a Bay Area nonprofit founded by eBay cofounder Jeffrey Skoll to invest in “bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.” In the video, Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director for Chicago-based progressive AVR advocacy group Institute for Responsive Government, laments the makeup of the American electorate and suggests changing it: “What we are doing is looking for small-seeming policies that make transformative change to who that electorate is.”
Skoll Foundation released the video featuring Woon and Oliker-Friedland July 16, 2024. Oregon DMV has admitted it first learned it may have unlawfully registered noncitizens to vote via a phone call from someone at the Institute for Responsive Government. Phone records obtained by Oregon Roundup in a public records request indicate that call was received by a DMV employee July 29, 2024.
In its September 13 story breaking the news of Oregon’s having registered noncitizens to vote via its motor voter system, Willamette Week quoted Woon as saying she first learned of the fact her office had registered noncitizens to vote the day before, September 12.
The existence of the video, which remains posted on the Skoll Foundation’s and Institute for Responsive Government’s websites, was discovered by Oregon Roundup after receiving emails pursuant to its public records request in which Woon sent the video to DMV director Amy Joyce, noting the appearance of a Salem DMV office in the video.
Then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan appointed Woon Elections Director in January 2023, after the previous director objected to Fagan ordering the inclusion of a fellow Democrat’s voter pamphlet statement even though the statement was filed after the deadline established by Oregon law.
In 2023, Woon oversaw the Elections Division’s investigation into the Democratic Party of Oregon, her former employer, misreporting the source of its largest-ever political contribution, $500,000, in 2022. The party used those funds in part to help elect Democrat Tina Kotek governor that year. Under Woon’s leadership, the Elections Division reduced the statutorily provided penalty for the party’s misreporting and promised to take no further enforcement action against the party.
A subsequent investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice discovered at least some party officials were aware the contribution came from a cryptocurrency executive since convicted on federal campaign finance fraud charges. The party initially reported the source as the executive’s bank.
Woon has taken a leading public role not just for her Elections Division, but for the Secretary of State’s office as a whole, in defending and explaining the state’s registration of noncitizens to vote. She was the only Secretary of State official to participate in a September legislative oversight hearing into the issue.
Woon’s boss, Secretary of State Lavonne Griffin-Valade, did not attend the hearing. Governor Kotek appointed Griffin-Valade June 30, 2023, to replace Fagan after Fagan resigned in the wake of disclosure she was receiving $10,000 per month in a consulting job with a cannabis company while her office conducted an audit critical of state cannabis regulations.
The total number of noncitizens registered to vote in Oregon is unknown. Kotek has ordered an outside audit of the motor voter system, which has not yet been performed. Oregon has no system to verify or determine the citizenship status of the majority of voters registered outside of motor voter.
Jeff is the only OR reporter who is following up on this case...anyone wonder why?
The buddy system in Oregon politics is a complete joke. ANYWHERE in the private sector someone would take the fall for actions like these. Not in Oregon (or most other public offices). The real issue is that you can be held liable in the private sector for even minimal mistakes (thanks democrats). Seems like elected and appointed officials are above this... VOTE yes for the impeachment process in Oregon next week, at least it's a start. BTW we are the ONLY state in the US that does not have an impeachment process on the books.....